Governor Ron DeSantis signed an elections reform bill into law Thursday and opposition groups have already filed lawsuits against it. The new law, known as SB90, sets in place limits on access to ballot drop boxes and well as requiring those same ballot drop boxes to be monitored by an employee of the supervisor of elections’ office.
Additionally, voters who wish to request an absentee ballot will have to do so each general election cycle.
The NAACP and the League of Women Voters are among the groups filing suit.
“S.B. 90 represents a direct and swift backlash to Black voters’ historic turnout during the 2020 election season,” said Zachery Morris, Assistant Counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “The law’s suppressive and discriminatory provisions make it clear that the Florida Legislature’s goal is to erect additional hurdles to inhibit Florida voters, especially disabled voters, Black voters, and Latino voters, from accessing the ballot box. These efforts are shameful and they are not new. We cannot allow elected officials to suppress votes under the guise of election integrity.”
The League of Women voters continued criticizing the new law and announced their intention to file suit, as well.
“The League of Women Voters of Florida has fought SB 90 since its introduction, and we’re continuing our fight now,” League of Women Voters of Florida President Patricia Brigham said in a statement. “The legislation has a deliberate and disproportionate impact on elderly voters, voters with disabilities, students and communities of color. It’s a despicable attempt by a one-party-ruled Legislature to choose who can vote in our state and who cannot. It’s undemocratic, unconstitutional, and un-American.”
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried called out DeSantis for doing the bill signing in a “Fox News exclusive.”
“He is using Fox News as a state news source,” Fried said. “We see this in other locations across the world – China, Venezuela.”
Fried continued by saying DeSantis regularly runs to Fox News when a big issue arises.
“Every time that he has a big announcement or wants to talk about these red-meat issues, he only goes to Fox News,” Fried said. “You haven’t seen him sit down with any other networks. The fact is that he is scared of getting this information out to the rest of the public.”
DeSantis fired back at critics who were frustrated that local and state reporters were not allowed in the hotel where he signed the bill.
“It was on national TV; it wasn’t secret, guys,” DeSantis said.
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at the Florida Capital Star and the Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
